About the Refuge

Erie refuge consists of two separate land divisions. Sugar Lake Division lies 10 miles east of Meadville on the outskirts of Guys Mills village. The Seneca Division is about 10 miles north of Sugar Lake Division or four miles southeast of Cambridge Springs, PA.

Erie National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1959. The first lands for the refuge were purchased with funds provided from the sale of the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps (also known as Duck stamps). Erie refuge is a namesake of the Erie Indians, a Native American tribe that resided in the area. The refuge is not on the shores of Lake Erie, but lies in Crawford County, 35 miles south of the city of Erie and Lake Erie in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Erie is the only refuge in the nation protecting endangered northern riffleshell and clubshell mussels. French Creek, the most biologically diverse stream in Pennsylvania, flows near the Refuge where over 80 species of native fish are found.

The refuge is designated as an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society and attracts more than 230 species of birds.

What We Do

Northern riffleshell and clubshell mussels are two critically imperiled species, having lost more than 95 percent of their historic range. However, the surviving northern riffleshell in Pennsylvania are some of the best remaining in the world. French Creek is home to these and 26 other mussel species.